Feeling a call to religious life, Erminio joined the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God on 22 June1927, taking the name Riccardo, and making his formal profession on 24 October1928. He ran a free dental clinic for the Order in Brescia, treating those in need, and giving them money and food in the bargain if they needed it.

The short but intense life of Brother Richard is an incentive for all the People of God, but especially for the young, for doctors and for religious. He is an extraordinary figure, close to us in time but even closer still to us in the midst of our problems and our needs. - PopeJohn Paul II in the canonization homily for Saint Richard

Pray that neither self indulgence nor pride, nor any other evil passion, prevent me from seeing in my patients Jesus who suffers, and from healing and comforting Him. - Saint Richard in a letter to his sister, a missionarynun